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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Consultants Gather Fire Protection Input

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
    Angry feelings smoldered at a Community Wildfire Protection Plan meeting last Thursday at the Torreon Community Center.
    "I went to sleep and at one o'clock they woke us up and told us to get out," said Ursula Torres, who lost her home in the Ojo Peak fire last November. "We need better communication."
    The human-caused fire burned more than 7,000 acres in the Manzano Mountains. Seven structures were lost and 100 families were forced to evacuate their homes, according to the county draft Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
    The public's comments were recorded by Krista Bonfantine, Arid Land Innovation, and Victoria Williams, SWCA Environmental Consultants, the two organizations preparing the CWPP for both Torrance County and Claunch-Pinto Soil and Water Conservation District.
    The investigation into the cause of the Ojo Peak fire is almost complete, said Christine "Krysia" Baron, a law enforcement officer for the U.S. Forest Service, in a phone interview.
    "We are still very interested in talking with anyone who was on the trail that Sunday or over the weekend. They may not even know that they saw something important to the investigation," Baron said.
    If you believe you have information for the Ojo Peak fire investigators, call 888-971-0100 or 346-2660.
    At the Torreon CWPP meeting Joe Perea, who worked as the fire management officer for the Mountainair district for some 30 years, said he had never seen a fire behave like the Ojo Peak fire.
    "We need funding to train more volunteer firefighters," said Linda Johnson, who lives in the Manzano area.
    "We need to bring those (Mountainair) firefighters back into our community," said Luyine Luna, who now lives in Punta de Agua where many residents were evacuated during the fire.
    The Mountainair crew Luna was referring to was a Type 2 hand crew, said Lance Elmore, forest fire management officer, in a phone interview after the meeting.
    "The crew was disbanded for disciplinary reasons," Elmore said.
    Five public meetings were held to encourage community response which was recorded and will be added to the almost 200-page draft community wildfire protection plans, said Bonfantine, who solicited comments throughout the meeting.
    The goals of each meeting were to review the Community Wildfire Protection Plan, get public feedback and provide basic information for the wildfire season.
    "I want to make sure that the Ojo Peak fire is discussed but I don't want to lose focus on the plan," Bonfantine said to the people attending.
    From 1970 until 2007 about 85 percent of the fires within the county were less than 10 acres in size. During the same time period 32 fires were greater than 100 acres in size, and nine fires grew to greater than 1,000 acres, according to the county draft CWPP.
    Almost 30 areas in the county were assessed based on conditions and were given hazard ratings from low to extreme. Sherwood Forest and A102 were the two areas that both received extreme ratings.
    Sherwood Forest received the rating because of surrounding forest, steep and narrow roads, insufficient turn-around space for fire vehicles and "limited defensible space," according to the CWPP draft.
    County Road A102 in the northwest corner of the county "is extremely populated and has extremely bad road signage," the CWPP states. Along with minimal defensible space, the extreme rating was given because of heavy debris and trash, steep roads, limited water supply and its location at more than 12 miles from the nearest fire station.
    Torrance County is made up of grassland and forested land owned by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Isleta Indian Reservation, land grant, private land and three soil and water conservation districts.
    Beginning in November, Bonfantine and Williams have conducted similar meetings in Estancia, Mountainair, Corona and Moriarty. No community members came to the meeting held in Moriarty on April 2.
    "I think they don't perceive themselves to be at risk," Williams said.
    Attending the Community Wildfire Protection Plan were some members from a core team who plan to update the plan on a biannual basis, including Claunch-Pinto SWCD District Manager Dierdre Tarr; Chairman of Estancia Basin Resource Association Art Swenka; New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department's Forest and Watershed Office Terrell Treat; President of the Chilili Land Grant Juan Sanchez and Mountainair Ranger District Engine Foreman Terrance Gallegos.
    Comments can be made to Williams at 254-1115 or vwilliams@swca.com. The deadline to comment is 5 p.m. today.
    A final CWPP will be posted at www.swcacwpps.com by June 1, Williams said. Draft plans are available at that Web site location.